Hehe thanks! I'm afraid that line might come off a bit as if I'm giving up on games and just doing comics instead. Maybe I could have been more clear about it. I'm more afraid of being tedious with overly clarifying stuff
Cool that the programming example came across! It's a magical feeling to get the hang of that
I very much get the thing about not wanting to be tedious. If you wanted to make sure that the reader had all the "puzzle pieces" to understand your exact meaning with an ending like that (without making it boring by over clarifying) , you could have subtly set it up in the start of the piece. Maybe just a casual mention of how you loved making comics but some direction with it was missing, so in recent years it has slipped more into the background - or whatever it is. Then it could have dove into all the programming stuff to the point where the reader had forgotten anything you said about comics (except for in the back of the mind) and then BAM! - a nice, unexpected resolution to the comics narrative :)
I bet that it's a magical feeling to get a hang of programming. When I was younger I would play around with some very simple programming in some very simple programs (RPG Maker for example and Microsoft used to have a program that was like PowerPoint but interactive) . Good times!
There's an interesting balance between conveying information and submitting to a narrative. Ideally both aspects end up feeding off of and supporting each other. Ultimately, the narrative is only there to tie it all together. It can become a bit of a complex game of not letting narrative take over at the cost of information and not let information take over at the cost of narrative. It's fun though and amazing when it works.
I just looked up the "interactive PowerPoint program". It turns out that it wasn't by Microsoft and that it was called "Mediator".
Lovely story, relatable yet so different :) I really enjoy these kinds of stories.
> The most recurring advice was to not “over-scope” game projects.
I think telling a passionate person this is harmful. Imagine if someone had told Hayao Miyazaki to be less amitious with his films. If one is willing to work that hard, I want to see what they accomplish in 10 or 20 years. I like to let that inner child free and not quash them.
You've got a good point about over-scoping. Maybe some day I'll be less afraid to over-scope, for now I really respect it though. I wonder at what point I would open up more to that...
Love the final line, hehe. It comes out of the blue - and yet it doesn’t.
It’s interesting to read about that coding example, as an outsider to coding. It makes a lot of sense.
There is so much one can do with programming. So cool.
Hehe thanks! I'm afraid that line might come off a bit as if I'm giving up on games and just doing comics instead. Maybe I could have been more clear about it. I'm more afraid of being tedious with overly clarifying stuff
Cool that the programming example came across! It's a magical feeling to get the hang of that
I very much get the thing about not wanting to be tedious. If you wanted to make sure that the reader had all the "puzzle pieces" to understand your exact meaning with an ending like that (without making it boring by over clarifying) , you could have subtly set it up in the start of the piece. Maybe just a casual mention of how you loved making comics but some direction with it was missing, so in recent years it has slipped more into the background - or whatever it is. Then it could have dove into all the programming stuff to the point where the reader had forgotten anything you said about comics (except for in the back of the mind) and then BAM! - a nice, unexpected resolution to the comics narrative :)
I bet that it's a magical feeling to get a hang of programming. When I was younger I would play around with some very simple programming in some very simple programs (RPG Maker for example and Microsoft used to have a program that was like PowerPoint but interactive) . Good times!
I'll try to edit it a bit when I post it on my more permanent blog, to mention comics in the opening somehow. That's a great idea, thanks!
I never heard of interactive PowerPoint, that sounds fun!
Anytime!
There's an interesting balance between conveying information and submitting to a narrative. Ideally both aspects end up feeding off of and supporting each other. Ultimately, the narrative is only there to tie it all together. It can become a bit of a complex game of not letting narrative take over at the cost of information and not let information take over at the cost of narrative. It's fun though and amazing when it works.
I just looked up the "interactive PowerPoint program". It turns out that it wasn't by Microsoft and that it was called "Mediator".
I looked up Mediator as well, it almost looks like a game engine lol
Totally agree about the balance of information vs story, it's hard but a big part of writing.
Lovely story, relatable yet so different :) I really enjoy these kinds of stories.
> The most recurring advice was to not “over-scope” game projects.
I think telling a passionate person this is harmful. Imagine if someone had told Hayao Miyazaki to be less amitious with his films. If one is willing to work that hard, I want to see what they accomplish in 10 or 20 years. I like to let that inner child free and not quash them.
You've got a good point about over-scoping. Maybe some day I'll be less afraid to over-scope, for now I really respect it though. I wonder at what point I would open up more to that...
How do you think about that right now?
Glad you enjoyed the story!
Sounds good :) I just hope we don't tell future Hayao's to stop overscoping, haha.
Surmount is a relatively big ambitious thing and I think you did very nice job on it!